DNA damage in embryonic neural stem cell determines FTLDs' fate via early-stage neuronal necrosis.

The early-stage pathologies of frontotemporal lobal degeneration (FTLD) remain largely unknown. In VCP ^T262A -KI mice carrying VCP gene mutation linked to FTLD, insufficient DNA damage repair in neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs) activated DNA-PK and CDK1 that disabled MCM3 essential for the G1/S cell cycle transition. Abnormal neural exit produced neurons carrying over unrepaired DNA damage and induced early-stage transcriptional repression-induced atypical cell death (TRIAD) necrosis accompanied by the specific markers pSer46-MARCKS and YAP. In utero gene therapy expressing normal VCP or non-phosphorylated mutant MCM3 rescued DNA damage, neuronal necrosis, cognitive function, and TDP43 aggregation in adult neurons of VCP ^T262A -KI mice, whereas similar therapy in adulthood was less effective. The similar early-stage neuronal necrosis was detected in PGRN ^R504X -KI, CHMP2B ^Q165X -KI, and TDP ^N267S -KI mice, and blocked by embryonic treatment with AAV-non-phospho-MCM3. Moreover, YAP-dependent necrosis occurred in neurons of human FTLD patients, and consistently pSer46-MARCKS was increased in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of these patients. Collectively, developmental stress followed by early-stage neuronal necrosis is a potential target for therapeutics and one of the earliest general biomarkers for FTLD.
(© 2021 Homma et al.)